“I look at what went on in our house, it was something that won’t ever happen again.” -ISIAH THOMAS

Calling the Knicks a “sick patient,” new boss Isiah Thomas promised yesterday that Tuesday night’s humiliating Latrell Sprewell episode will never happen again under his watch at the Garden.

In his first show of leadership, Thomas vowed to make this team tougher – physically and mentally. Sprewell yesterday was fined $25,000 by the NBA, which is $15,000 more than he was docked in November 1999 for his cursing spree upon returning to Golden State.

Ticked off that Sprewell taunted, cursed and humiliated owner James Dolan without any retribution from a Knicks player Tuesday, Thomas made this Christmas Eve declaration:

“Something happened in our house [Tuesday] night that I hope won’t happen again. I look at what went on in our house, it was something that won’t ever happen again. Right now, we’re down. Sometimes people kick you when you’re down. We’ve got to stand up and we will stand up.”

The Knicks (10-19) did not stand up to Sprewell, who saved his worst taunts and expletives for Dolan in the final minute after he clinched the outcome with a 3-pointer from the right wing. Dolan was sitting in his customary baseline seat, yards from the Knicks bench, and was taunted twice by Sprewell in the first half.

Say what you want about Dolan, but the man is paying a league-high $89 million for this roster and not one of his multi-millionaires told Sprewell to quit it.

“It was hard for all of us to watch,” Thomas said.

Thomas, a Hall of Fame point guard, played on the championship Pistons “Bad Boys” led by Bill Laimbeer. Asked what the “Bad Boys” would’ve done to Sprewell, Thomas snapped, “It wouldn’t have happened. No, no. It wouldn’t have happened.”

Sadly, it took one of the lowest-paid men on the Knicks bench, assistant coach Lon Kruger, making no more than $275,000, to tell Sprewell to pipe down. Sprewell responded with an even more vulgar expletive-laced diatribe at Kruger that contained a sexual reference. Before picking up that technical foul, Sprewell was warned by referee Tony Brothers in the Minnesota huddle with 1:14 left to cut out the crowd taunts.

Garden president Steve Mills, close with David Stern, fumed Tuesday night in complaining to league disciplinarian Stu Jackson for the taunts of Dolan and Kruger.

“Whatever the league [did] about it, has no impact on us,” Thomas said. “But I’d say for us it’s an eye-opening experience in terms of where we are now as a franchise. We got to get better. We got to get more prideful and mindful of who we are. We haven’t become what we will become.”

The Knicks ripped Sprewell yesterday but not themselves. Don Chaney said it’s the T’wolves’ responsibility to stop Sprewell’s antics. Chaney’s differing view with Thomas on the episode won’t score points with the GM, who appears close to making a coaching change anyway.

“I’m concerned with our team and not the behavior of another player,” Chaney said. “He’s not our teammate anymore. It’s up to his teammates to control him, not our guys.”

Allan Houston, who has a good relationship with Dolan, said, “Just because someone talks to someone in the crowd, you don’t clothesline them.”

That someone, Allan, paid you $100 million three years ago.

“Are you suggesting we should’ve started a fight because he was talking to our owner?” the captain said. “I don’t think that’s the answer.

“If it all happened and we would’ve won, it would’ve been a different story today,” Houston said. “If we would’ve won, I don’t think you guys would say we should’ve said something to Spree. He didn’t listen to his own coach. What are we going to say?”

Thomas acknowledged the Knicks are in dire need of toughness, but said, “Before I can do what you just talked about, I got to get them healthy of mind. Because right now we’re not healthy of mind yet. It’s like you have a sick patient. Before you get him up, walking and everything else, you’ve got to nurture and take care of them. Right now we’re down.”